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Minnesota Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar is facing heat from her Republican opponent and critics on social media for campaigning on addressing the massive fraud scandal in her state despite not mentioning it a single time in any press release since the crisis emerged.
A Digital review found that Klobuchar’s Senate office repeatedly issued press releases addressing other forms of fraud between 2022 and 2025, but a review of 1,000 of her official press-release archive found no release directly addressing or offering solutions to fix Minnesota’s sprawling social-services fraud scandal or Feeding Our Future.
The $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal, that has ballooned into an overall social services scandal that prosecutors say could total over $9 billion, broke in late January of 2022. In more than 1,000 press releases from Klobuchar’s office from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025, the Feeding our Future scandal was not mentioned in Klobuchar’s releases, nor were the terms “Minnesota fraud,” “social services fraud,” “Medicaid fraud,” “autism fraud,” “Housing Stabilization Services,” “child nutrition fraud,” “DHS fraud,” or “nonprofit fraud.”
“As Feeding Our Future was breaking and all of the fraud that was being talked about, the absent voice that I was noticing was Senator Klobuchar,” Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth told Digital in an interview on Friday.
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., referred to the Minneapolis Catholic school shooter as a “he” in an NPR interview Wednesday, prompting the outlet to clarify it’s “unclear” what the shooter’s identity is. (Bloomberg/Getty)
“She with her extended time, twenty years as a senator, could have held hearings but not only did she not hold hearings, the hearing that took place a few months ago about fraud here in the state of Minnesota she didn’t even attend and so i think that speaks very loudly to the people of Minnesota that we have a twenty-year senator, the most explosive fraud that has taken place a theft of our tax dollars here and yet, there was no mention.”
Demuth drew attention to the Klobuchar press releases not mentioning the scandal earlier this week during a speech where she released her plan to fight fraud and criticized Klobuchar for not doing enough.
“Billions of our tax dollars stolen,” Demuth posted on X. “It’s time for change.”
Since announcing her run for governor, Klobuchar has focused on fraud, including in a campaign ad released earlier this month promising a state audit on her first day in office that will “root out waste fraud and abuse.”
“It’s time for results, not excuses,” Klobuchar posted on X.
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Klobuchar breezed through the primary election and heads to November as the favorite to replace Gov. Tim Walz, who dropped his re-election bid amid the fraud scandal, but Demuth says that voters will have a hard time ignoring Klobuchar’s record on combatting fraud as well as her ties to Walz.
“My question is, where were you for the last 10 years, but absolutely the last eight years?” Demuth said. “She could have done press conferences, she could have partnered with Governor Walz. She has called Governor Walz an exceptional governor, ‘he’s a great governor.’ Back when he was running for vice president, she was giving all of his accolades. Where was she to help him where our state was falling apart? I think it’s a little bit too late for her to say that this was really a priority.”
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced that he would not be seeking reelection Monday January 5, 2026, at a press conference at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Republican candidates in Minnesota have been making the case that voters of all political parties are motivated and upset by the fraud scandal, including Senate hopeful Michele Tafoya who told Digital earlier this month that voters are “ready for a change.”
Demuth touted her fraud efforts in the legislature and said that as soon as she became Minnesota House Speaker in 2025 she immediately took steps to make sure cracking down on fraud was front and center, including setting up the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee.
“Who are Minnesotans gonna trust for their next governor?” Demuth said. “Somebody that has just decided to talk about fraud now that they’re running for office or someone that has been fighting fraud this entire time? And I think I am the most trustworthy when it comes to ending fraud and respecting taxpayer dollars as your next governor.”
Digital reached out to Klobuchar’s campaign for comment.
